Chapter 190
Chapter 190
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Unacceptable Hygiene
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I suppressed the nausea rising from within.
How could they look at that heavily moldy kimchi and not think something was off? Does that even make sense?
"They got complacent. 'This much should be fine,' they probably thought."
Acting purely on their own whims, twisting everything to suit themselves. This level of self-justification was severe.
"White mold on kimchi isn't okay either. It loses its commercial value—you shouldn't use it in food you're selling."
Scraping off mold and eating it is only fine at home. A food business can't use moldy kimchi.
But mold, of all things?
It was outrageous.
"You're going to be in real trouble like this, Owner. You have no clue how scary the world can be. What if someone gets sick from eating this?"
How did they plan to handle the compensation claims and lawsuits? All I could call it was negligence.
But the response was something else.
- Just cut off the moldy parts and eat it. Plus, it's thoroughly cooked...
"What did you say?"
I had no idea where to even start picking that apart. First, I tamped down my anger and corrected the misinformation right away, just in case it spread on air.
"Mold isn't just what's visible on the surface. Like when a little mold shows up on the crust of bread—you might think you can just slice it off? The second you see it, the inside is already fully contaminated."
I looked straight at the cameraman and pleaded earnestly.
"Don't just scrape off mold and eat it. Mold spores don't all die even when boiled at high heat!"
Meaning all that talk about disinfecting it in kimchi stew was pure nonsense.
"Viewers, never eat moldy food."
That ought to be warning enough. I couldn't hold back anymore.
"Owner. Come down here."
-......
"Don't stay in the control room. Get down here."
She clearly had no grasp of how serious this was. People like her refuse to admit fault to the bitter end.
Unless the evidence is staring them in the face.
-...Okay.
Lee Hyo-soon's reluctant reply came through. Then came the rustling sounds of her getting up.
In the meantime, I dug deeper into the fridge. The ice mess was secondary—what I found next was even more shocking.
"What the hell is this."
The words slipped out on their own. A large mixing bowl covered with thin plastic wrap.
"...Eggs?"
One look inside made it obvious. It was beaten eggs.
A massive egg roll flashed through my mind.
"No. Even so, this much..."
I trailed off as I peeled back the wrap, and a stench stabbed my nose.
"Ugh!"
Off guard, the rotten smell left my head spinning. I nearly hurled right there.
Forcing the nausea down turned my face ashen and set my fingertips trembling.
Right on cue, Lee Hyo-soon poked her head in.
"Song Woo-yeon?"
Her face pushed me over the edge.
"Owner. You made egg rolls with this stuff and served them to customers? Up until now?"
There was no containing the fury boiling up.
"This is rotten! The smell is overpowering. And you just left it in the fridge?!"
Lee Hyo-soon spotted the mixing bowl in my hand and responded in stunned horror.
"No, why'd you have to see that too. I just stashed it there to toss later. This never went out to customers!"
"Of course it didn't! Cook food with this and people die. Food poisoning—straight to the hospital!"
The hygiene was this horrific.
Up to now, the issues had mostly been with taste, not hygiene this extreme.
"If you were gonna throw it out, you should have. Why stick it back in the fridge? Wrapping it up doesn't preserve it. How do you even think of storing it with the other ingredients?"
Lee Hyo-soon hemmed and hawed in response.
"How was I supposed to know you'd show up today. I was planning to dump it tonight anyway."
Obvious lie, plain as day.
No way it rots this bad after just a day or two wrapped up. She'd put it in, forgotten, and left it to fester.
If I hadn't dropped in unannounced, it might've rotted away in there forever.
And contaminated the entire fridge in the process.
"Owner. Do you really think that sounds believable? Expect me to buy it?"
"It's true..."
"You've been making excuses nonstop. That's how you'd handle a sick customer? A health inspection? 'I was gonna toss it today'?"
"......"
Lee Hyo-soon shut her mouth tight, like she had nothing left to say. She slyly averted her eyes, so I grabbed the kimchi I'd set aside and shoved it in her face.
"Take a good look. The state of this kimchi. Is this really edible?"
Even she flinched at the sight of the mushy mess. She clearly hadn't realized how bad it was.
"Look properly."
"Ah, okay. My bad."
"Properly."
She kept dodging my gaze, so I rolled up my sleeve.
Splash!
I plunged my bare hand into the tub of rotten kimchi and scooped out a handful. The cabbage couldn't even hold its shape—it just slopped over.
"Eek!"
Lee Hyo-soon let out a horrified squeak. She clearly hadn't expected me to touch it bare-handed.
Plunging my hand into food waste bins is routine for me. Grabbing rotten scraps? No big deal.
I'd been around food so long it didn't faze me, but apparently it shocked everyone else.
Lee Hyo-soon, the cameraman watching from the side—both jumped.
Something about a radio crackle from the cameraman's side, probably chatter from the control room.
"Owner. Take a proper look. You made kimchi stew with this?"
"......Yes."
Her voice had lost all its fight.
She finally got it—I wasn't about to let this slide easily. Bowing her head and mumbling "yes, yes" wouldn't cut it.
I held the kimchi right up to her face.
"Can you eat this?"
She hesitated, then hung her head.
"Can you eat it?"
"......"
"You can't, right?"
"......"
"How do you serve customers food you can't eat yourself? Huh?"
She stayed dead silent.
Even ten mouths wouldn't help. Smart choice—anything she said would've just fueled my rage.
"Owner, this is seriously messed up. You know that, right?"
"......Sorry."
"Not sorry to me—to all the customers who've eaten this crap so far."
I hadn't touched it, but those who had—what had they done to deserve it? They'd gotten lucky because it was thoroughly cooked stews, like she said.
Which probably made her even more complacent.
"This place doesn't need taste tweaks. You need a full hygiene overhaul from the ground up. Without that, any other fixes are pointless."
I stated it flatly.
"I'm confident I can turn it around 180 degrees. If you think so too, give me a call then. Otherwise, I can't proceed with the solution."
With that, I turned and walked out.
Heading back to the control room, I could already hear the commotion inside.
I pushed open the door and stepped in—everyone stared my way and froze stiff. Damn. Had I made too much of a scene? Anger got the best of me.
"PD, sorry, but I don't think I can proceed with the solution."
No second thoughts—I delivered it calmly.
Kim Hee-sung rushed over.
"Aw, that's your call, Chef Song. You did great. Even we thought it was bad from watching—you must've been floored up close."
"Yeah. Thanks for understanding. I'm gonna go wash this off first."
I'd dunked my whole arm in rotten kimchi and pulled it out—sticky as hell and dying to clean it. Should've washed up in the kitchen. My arm reeked of rot.
Kim Hee-sung kept a subtle distance as he replied.
"Yeah, yeah, of course. Staff bathroom's got a sink—go for it."
"Got it. Excuse me."
The staff parted for me like the Red Sea wherever I went.
I got the state I was in, but treating me like a walking biohazard stung a little.
Scrub scrub.
I'd just finished soaping up and scrubbing my arm clean when—
Knock knock. Someone rapped on the door.
"Come in."
"Um..."
The voice was familiar. I turned—Do Kyung was standing there.
It was a unisex bathroom, but should I give her space?
No time to overthink—she cut straight to it.
"You okay?"
"What."
"You looked really pissed. First time I've seen you blow up like that."
"......"
Fair point. I'd never seen a place this trashed.
"I always thought you had leadership during other solutions, but today... it was on another level."
Was she indirectly calling me a jerk?
'Fair. Even before regression, this temper caused friction with franchise owners.'
I needed to rein it in. But seeing such basic failures? Impossible to stomach.
'How do you even hold back?'
Still pissed just thinking about it. Midway through my angry scrubbing, Do Kyung dropped something unexpected.
"Guess you need that kind of charisma to run a company."
"...Huh?"
"You looked seriously cool."
She grinned.
"Never really felt it since we're the same age, but yeah—you're a big-shot CEO, huh."
"?"
"Bet everyone thinks the same. Like... there's a wall now."
So... the sneaky avoidance wasn't just from the rotten kimchi stink?